The present invention relates to a temperature gauge for surgical drills and to a method for employing the same. More particularly, it relates to such a temperature gauge for dental drills used for dental implants.
Today, dental or intraoral implants are used throughout the world to replace missing teeth. Implants are used for: (1) anchorage of false teeth; (2) anchorage of facial prosthesis; (3) enhancement of chewing, eating and speaking; and (4) increasing patient self-esteem.
Dental implants, i.e., artificial tooth supports surgically set in the jaw, can be used to replace any number of missing teeth. Dental implants are placed into the jaw bone and allowed to heal undisturbed for a predetermined amount of time in order to assure acceptance of the implant by the body. A precise surgical placement of the implants is adhered to during placement of the implants. The implant site is prepared by the employment of a slow-speed, bone-drilling dental drill. Drill bits or burs of progressively increasing diameter are used with the drill so as to prepare the patient's jaw bone and to provide a bore site therein for the receipt of a generally cylindrical dental implant of predetermined diameter.
The surgical and drilling procedure are critical to the success of the dental implant, which requires osseointegration of the biomedical surface of the dental implant to the bone. One major cause of implant failure and rejection is attributed to overheating of the bone during implant preparation. Numerous studies have demonstrated the inability of bone cells to remain viable at temperatures above 47.degree. C. for one minute (see, Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 101-107, "The Effect of Heat on Bone Regeneration"; International Journal of Oral Surgery, vol. 10, pp. 387-416 (1981) "A 15-year Study of Osseointegrated Implants in the Treatment of Edentulous Jaw"; and "Temperatures Measured in Human Corticobone When Drilling" and "Thermal Injury to Bone"). Consequently, it is critical to control the drilling temperature during drilling to maintain the temperature below 47.degree. C. so as not to damage and destroy the surrounding bone cells adjacent the implant. This is presently accomplished simply by providing copious irrigation during drilling (i.e., large amounts of "cooling" water are sprayed into the drill site via the dental drill, as is well known in the art). However, to Applicants' knowledge, no device or technique is available for recording the temperature at the bone site during drilling, which enables the surgeon to be instantly aware of the drill site temperature.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel temperature gauge for surgical and dental drills and a method employing the same which records the bone temperature at the bone drilling site.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a novel temperature gauge which is relatively simple in design, easy to use and cost effective.
It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide such a novel temperature gauge which allows the surgeon to constantly monitor any change in drill bur or bit temperature during the drilling procedure.